


The Banshee of McKinley

by vcg73



Category: Glee
Genre: Gen, Halloween, Prompt: Fae Creatures, kurtoberfest, silliness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-10 22:24:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,373
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16463510
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vcg73/pseuds/vcg73
Summary: There justhadto be some otherworldly explanation for that girl.





	The Banshee of McKinley

Those who heard the Banshee’s cry were never to be the same again. It was a haunting, keening sound with neither rhythm nor melody, just a soul-deep agony that tore at the eardrums, even as it chilled the heart and shriveled the very marrow of one’s bones.

Kurt winced when that horrifying noise rang through the WMHS choir room, remembering other times, terrible times in his life when the loss of a loved one was inescapable and real. He had heard it drifting on the wind the day of his mother’s funeral. Ringing through the eaves of the big scary chapel when his grandfather was laid to rest. Even heard it whispering in the hallways of the residential care home when Jean Sylvester passed away.

That sound was never a harbinger of good things, and now it had come to his safe place. The walls of the McKinley choir room rang with the hideous wail, disguised this time as an audition piece for a new student. 

Mr Schuester looked like was hearing the ghosts of all his fears and failures as the wail filled his ears. Rachel was clearly seeing the death of all her lofty dreams of Broadway stardom in that whining cry. Mercedes looked like she was having a Come-to-Jesus moment that she had been in no way prepared to face. 

Everyone wanted the noise to stop, but no one could find the strength to put an end to the inhuman screech, perhaps fearing to pull too much focus from the singer onto themselves. Kurt’s fingers pressed to his lips, struggling to keep from screaming as the assault on his ears continued. He stared at the girl producing the sound. Just a plain, average, if unnaturally obnoxious, girl with a blunt and off-putting habit of saying cruel and insensitive things. As if she wanted them to think that she was normal, but did not want anyone getting close enough to find out that she was not.

At the end of Glee, everyone staggered from the room, the echo of that last terrible howl still ringing in their ears, driving them to escape. Everyone fled except for Kurt. He immediately headed for the hallway where the sophomores had their lockers, finding the fairy-girl immediately. 

“Sugar,” he said flatly, coming to stand before her and taking a firm stance that showed he was not leaving without answers. “Who is it? Who was your song meant to warn?”

She blinked up at him with her enormous brown eyes, cracking the gum she was energetically chewing and nervously fluffing the ends of her hair and dislodging the string of spaghetti that had still been caught in the strands from today’s food-fight. “What do you mean?” she asked innocently.

Kurt cocked his head and for a split second, his eyes flashed with an unnatural aura of verdant green, making the girl gasp. “I _know_ , Sugar,” he said sternly. “I’ve heard your song before, and I want to know who you’ve come for.”

Dropping the act, the orange-clad girl looked quickly around the hallway. “Why didn’t anyone tell me there was a fairy at this school?”

Someone passing on their way to class snickered, and Kurt shot him a dark look. Sugar just sniffed and flicked her fingertip, causing the chuckling goon to step on a bit of spilled soda that hadn’t been there a moment before. He slid and staggered drunkenly and then landed on his ass, making the other students around him roar with amusement.

“Anyway,” Sugar continued airily. “What I mean is, if they’ve already got you then why am I here?”

Kurt eyed her hopefully. “You mean, you aren’t here to foretell the death of one of my friends? Isn’t that why you were singing just now?”

“ _Phhhth_ ,” she sputtered, her bright orange lips bubbling with disdain. “Of course not! I just wanted to join the choir. Daddy says that I need extra training before I’m ready to get in the game. Now I think I’m doing just fine. You heard me. Don’t you think I’m ready?”

“Um,” he stalled. “Wait, do you mean to tell me that you’re really not a Banshee?”

Sugar flipped her hair again. “Of course I am!” she said proudly. Then she abruptly deflated. “Only, I’m just a kid still. I won’t get my official documentation until I manage to prove that I can benefit someone with my voice. Banshees aren’t bad people, you know. We just help the living embrace their grief so they can move on from the dead. That’s important. I thought if I joined the choir, I could get you guys to your National event and that would prove I had what it takes. Only for some reason, your stupid director wouldn’t let me in! Now what am I supposed to do?”

Kurt did not know what to say. His own fairy blood was only half-strength. His mother had been a full blooded fairy who had given up her magic to live as a mortal when she enchanted and then fell in love with his father. Kurt could recognize other Fae creatures but he had no magic of his own other than the musical gifts he had inherited. He had never heard of a magical creature showing up to attend high school as some sort of job interview.

“Stick around a while,” he advised. “Listen, learn, and practice whenever you can, but not where other people can hear you. Right now your voice isn’t pitched for human ears so they aren’t able to appreciate your um … talent. I would suggest listening to lots of radio singers and trying to modulate your voice to match them.”

Sugar clapped her hands and jumped for joy. “That’s a great idea! Then I can audition again and everyone will hear how much better I am than they are and they’ll want me to lead the group!”

“I wouldn’t go that far,” he said sharply. The last thing he needed in his life was yet another diva trying to take over every solo in show-choir. “In fact, you’d be better off learning how to harmonize and contribute to the overall sound of the group. They’ll appreciate you more that way, trust me.”

“Okay,” she said cheerfully. “Thanks, um, what was your name again?”

He smiled, realizing he had missed a few steps in the whole polite interaction routine. “Kurt Hummel. Oh, and Sugar? Stop insulting everyone you meet. Nobody finds that cute. And also, keep the fairy thing to yourself. For both of our sakes.”

She offered him a little salute, then squealed and launched herself into his arms for a hug that startled him completely. “Ooooh, this is going to be so much fun! Thank you for the advice. I can’t wait to tell Daddy! And you’re sure it’s okay to have both of us here at the same time.”

“Sure,” he said after a moment, realizing that she was serious. “I mean, I don’t see why not.”

“Cool,” she said, cracking her gum happily. “You know what? I’m going to practice my singing and then I think I’ll throw a party and invite everyone from glee club so they can all hear how great I’ve become.”

Kurt smiled, the expression a bit pained. “Good idea, but, well, considering what happened today, maybe you should keep that part as a surprise until after everyone has arrived.”

“Ooo, a surprise party! Only instead of me being surprised, everybody else will be. I like it! You and I were clearly meant to be friends, Kurt.” She grabbed the phone he happened to have in his hand and added herself to his contacts, then called herself so she would have his number. “Thanks! I’ll start sending you audio files this weekend and you can tell me when you think I’ve improved enough to start sending out the party invites.”

With a cheery wave, the Banshee-in-Training slammed her locker shut and dashed off to class, leaving Kurt standing in the hallway with a horrified look on his face. He understood now. He was the one who had been fated to die, one torturous audio file at a time, and there was no one he could blame for it except himself.

THE END


End file.
